New Poll Shows How Much (Or How Little) The American People Trust The Media

A new poll that surveyed over 2,000 people found that only 6% of respondents say they have “a great deal of confidence” or trust in media.

Regarding trust in media, 52% said that they have “only some confidence,” and 48% said they have “hardly any confidence at all.”

The study was conducted by “Media Insight Project, an initiative of the American Press Institute (API) and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research” and surveyed 2,014 people.

When people say they don’t have any trust in media, usually what that means is that they don’t like any opposing news/media sources. “The media” has developed such a negative connotation that many people probably wouldn’t even consider their own news source of choice to be part of the media, or more particularly the mainstream media.

Naturally, people would prefer their own news source of choice and claim that they don’t trust the “media,” which they might define as “any news source that doesn’t share my own opinions.”

In truth, they’re all part of the media, whether it’s Fox News, ABC, MSNBC, New York Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, etc. They all have one thing in common: They exist to make a profit. As such, they do whatever they need to do in order to get the most viewers or listeners to increase their ratings and cash in on ad revenue.

Trust in media continues to nosedive as more Americans see the media as part of the establishment, and therefore part of the problem. They see the media less as government watchdog journalism and more as the public relations department of whatever administration is in power.

But that also depends on who is in power. With Obama, it seems that the media is not aware of any scandals at all. They’re aware of accusations made by “racist political opponents” who only want Obama to fail, but they’re not aware of any actual scandals. For the past eight years, the media have operated as the PR arm of the Obama administration.

During the eight years prior to Obama, they were at the other extreme. The things that the media excoriated Bush for – such as his foreign policy, executive orders, or wars – they are curiously silent on now, in spite of the fact that those things continue today under Obama.